AES Culture Code 2015

CULTURE CODE. Challenging the status quo.

Redesigning the future of financial services

“ “People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it Simon Sinek

We aspire to have an organisation which:

AES challenges the status quo.

....teaches like Wiki

...is loved like Google

...provides service like Federer

performance

excellent

In other words...

CULTURE HAPPENS.

Whether planned or not all, organisations have a culture.

CULTURE HAPPENS.

We want a culture people LOVE.

Let’s make an organisation that the world ACTUALLY NEEDS.

Let’s make an organisation that the world ACTUALLY NEEDS.

One that does the right thing and genuinely makes the world a better place.

NOW A FACT...

Financial services is changing.

EmpireThen

NOW A FACT...

Financial services is changing.

JediNow

But - many companies and people operate as if they’re frozen in time.

But - many companies and people operate as if they’re frozen in time.

They operate as if money is what matters most... often to the point of unconstrained GREED.

Banking

crisis

Bank fines

IFA scandals

Fund collapses LIBOR

fixing

FX and AML issues

Mis - selling

sagas

Purpose matters more than PAY CHEQUES

In the long term this approach equals

(as do the people we work with)...

Purpose matters more than PAY CHEQUES

In the long term this approach equals

BIGGER pay cheques.

(as do the people we work with)...

Don’t trust us on this? Look at:

(and that’s just the V’s)

WE DARE TO BE DIFFERENT.

We challenge the status quo in every part of what we do

Our goal is to prove that doing the right thing produces much better results in the medium and long term

We are therefore radically transparent which can make a lot of people uncomfortable, as they:

We are therefore radically transparent which can make a lot of people uncomfortable, as they:

Either don’t want us to tell others the truth (dinosaur advisers).

We are therefore radically transparent which can make a lot of people uncomfortable, as they:

Either don’t want us to tell others the truth (dinosaur advisers).

Aren’t used to being told it (clients).

This document is part manifesto and part employee handbook.

It’s part who we are and part who we aspire to become*

*ie. we aren’t there yet and need to work hard to get there...

Values are what we value.

These behaviours and skills are valued and rewarded.

KNOWLEDGEINTEGRITYTEA

MW

ORK

Ours are:

WE transform an outdated financial services INDUSTRY that manufactures and SELLS expensive, toxic products and investments into a PROFESSION. This is summed up in our tag line of:

WE transform an outdated financial services INDUSTRY that manufactures and SELLS expensive, toxic products and investments into a PROFESSION. This is summed up in our tag line of:

POSITIVE CHANGE

The Japanese called this

KAIZEN

Our Head of Investment calls this ‘MARGINAL GAINS’

(He’s a keen cyclist)

Our Head of Investment calls this ‘MARGINAL GAINS’

(He’s a keen cyclist)

That’s not him

treat others as they would want to be treated themselves

We believe people helping people with money must be

PROFESSIONAL and the hallmark of a

professional is that they

“ “

We believe people helping people with money must be

PROFESSIONAL and the hallmark of a

professional is that they

Simple!

treat others as they would want to be treated themselves“ “

This is known as

THE GOLDEN RULEor the

ETHIC OF RECIPROCITY and dates back to the Babylonion Code of Hammurabi in 1754BC

Think doctor, teacher and maybe even lawyer...!

...and sometimes dysfunctional.

Balancing the dual personality of mission & results

is challenging.

But it’s also partly what makes us

DIFFERENT.

- we strive to provide clients with:

Soto be clear

- we strive to provide clients with:

the BEST information

Soto be clear

- we strive to provide clients with:

the BEST informationthe BEST prices

Soto be clear

- we strive to provide clients with:

the BEST informationthe BEST pricesthe BEST service

Soto be clear

- we strive to provide clients with:

the BEST informationthe BEST pricesthe BEST servicethe BEST advice

Soto be clear

We also solve complex problems about things like cash flow forecasting lending, tax, insurance and investment that are very difficult/risky to

‘Do It Yourself’

OBSESS OVER CLIENTS NOT COMPETITORS

WE

OBSESS OVER CLIENTS NOT COMPETITORS

WE

Does

‘the best price’ mean giving more away free?

Does

‘the best price’ mean giving more away free?

NO!

To delight clients in the long-term,

we have to survive in the short-term.

Because...

(

Bankrupt companies don’t delight their clients.

We are results driven.

Results mattermore than the hours we workmore than where we produce them more than how popular people are

OUR PROFESSIONALS MUST GET RESULTS.

Does hitting our results and revenue goals support our long-term mission?

YES!Having delighted clients requires having clients.

YES!Having delighted clients requires having clients.

(funny how that works)

We are radically transparent...

INTERNALLYEXTERNALLY&

WE SHARE EVERYTHING

WE SHARE EVERYTHING

Today success is gained by sharing knowledge

not hoarding it.

The intent behind our transparency is to support

SMARTER BEHAVIOUR & BETTER DECISIONS

The intent behind our transparency is to support

SMARTER BEHAVIOUR & BETTER DECISIONS

(for clients and ourselves)

WE TRUST OURSELVES- and resist complexity at every level.

Instead of getting authorisation to bring in more policies and procedures we have a 3-word policy on just about everything:

USE GOOD JUDGEMENT.

WHAT IS GOOD JUDGEMENT?

A crib sheet for this is a little bit likeUNIT CORP GOD COUNTRY

in ‘A Few Good Men’

THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS:

THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS:

CLIENT

THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS:

CLIENT

ORGANISATION

THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS:

CLIENT

ORGANISATION

SELF

Don’t prioritise your personal interests at the expense of the organisation. Be a team player, not a politican...

ORGANISATION

SELF

Don’t prioritise your personal interests at the expense of the organisation. Be a team player, not a politican...don’t fritter away the organisation’s resources (this includes time)!

ORGANISATION

SELF

There it is

There it isThe ‘i’ in TEAM

There it isThe ‘i’ in TEAM

Hidden in the ‘A’ hole.

Don’t prioritise the organisation’s interests at the expense of the client.Working for clients’ interests is in all of our long-term interests.

CLIENT

ORGANISATION

We are unreasonably picky about our people.So

There are 5 attributes that we value, and comprise ‘the rare responsible person’.

#1 HUMBLE

{ }When things go well, humble people tend to share the credit.

When things go poorly, they tend to shoulder the responsibility.

No one likes dealing with ARROGANT, SELFISH PEOPLE.

(self-aware and respectful)

#2 EFFECTIVE

Effective people act like leaders and are predisposed to action. They just do things. Have a sense of ownership.

This begins with little things such as cleaning the kitchen area and turning off lights, and leads on to bigger things.{ }

#3 ADAPTABLE

Curious and constantly self-improving.

Life-long learner.{ }

#4 REMARKABLE

Has a super-power that makes them stand out in some way.

Remarkably smart. Remarkably creative. Remarkably resourceful.

REMARK•ABLE = Worthy.... of being remarked upon.{ }

#5 TRANSPARENT

Open and honest with others and with themselves.{ }

#5 TRANSPARENT

Open and honest with others and with themselves.{ }Short and

sweet!

HUMBLEEFFECTIVEADAPTABLEREMARKABLETRANSPARENTWe like people with heart.

We took this from HUBSPOT because we completely agree with them.

Compromising on culture is risking our futures.

SKILLS and EXPERIENCE matter...

Compromising on culture is risking our futures.

SKILLS and EXPERIENCE matter... ...but congruency to our culture matters more.

Does this mean we only accept those that match our values perfectly?

Does this mean we only accept those that match our values perfectly?

NO!

Does this mean we only accept those that match our values perfectly?

Confucius has good advice here...

NO!

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.

We’re a TEAM,not a family. We hire, develop and cut smartly because we want to have real stars in every position.

Sometimes we make hiring mistakes.

We need to react quicker to these.

1%We invest in CHAMPIONING our people. This means we are in the top of all Investors

in People firms and do a lot of things to help our people.

BUT...people need to be responsible for their own career growth and not solely rely on ‘corporation’ planning.

How do we increase our value as individuals?

BUT...Ongoing

learning

people need to be responsible for their own career growth and not solely rely on ‘corporation’ planning.

How do we increase our value as individuals?

BUT...Big

challenges

people need to be responsible for their own career growth and not solely rely on ‘corporation’ planning.

How do we increase our value as individuals?

BUT...Broad

exposure

people need to be responsible for their own career growth and not solely rely on ‘corporation’ planning.

How do we increase our value as individuals?

BUT...Amazing

results

people need to be responsible for their own career growth and not solely rely on ‘corporation’ planning.

How do we increase our value as individuals?

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO PROGRESS AT AES:

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO PROGRESS AT AES:

1. Be BRILLIANT as an individual contributor and make magic.

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO PROGRESS AT AES:

1. Be BRILLIANT as an individual contributor and make magic.

2. Provide SPECTACULAR support to those who are doing #1.

“ “IF YOU’RE JUST DOING YOUR JOB YOU’RE NOT DOING YOUR JOB.

Adequate performance is not acceptable- our people must go further…We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall goAlways a little further; it may beBeyond that last blue mountain barred with snowAcross that angry or that glimmering sea Excerpt from Flecker, inscribed on the clock tower of 22 Special Air Service Regiment

We’d rather be failing frequently

We’d rather be failing frequently

than never trying new things.

We are pioneers of a new paradigm and the financial well-being of many future generations depends on the achievement of our mission.

If we fail - people suffer.

We are pioneers of a new paradigm and the financial well-being of many future generations depends on the achievement of our mission.

If we fail - people suffer.

It’s that simple.

Remarkable outcomes rarely result from modest effort.

REFACTOR.• Pull out unused features.• Remove unnecessary rules.• Stop generating useless reports.• Automate manual processes.• Cancel unproductive meetings.• Prune extraneous processes.• Ensure ever more high performing people.

Teamwork depends on high performing people and good context.

The objective is to be big, fast and flexible.

to recapSo

THE AES CULTURE CODE

1 Values are what we value.

2 We are mission driven.

3 We strive to deliver the best information, the best prices, the best service and the best advice.

4 We are radically transparent.

5 We believe in autonomy not autocracy (mission command).

6 We are unreasonably picky about our people.

7 We invest in championing our people.

8 We challenge the status quo.

Our culture is not perfect for everyone.We are not a utopian place to work...

We have issues. Here are a few...

There is

TENSION between short-term goals vs long-term ambitions.

We lean towards the long-term, but it’s not always easy.

Change can be difficult (and sometimes elicits fear and anger.)

Not all decisions are popular but delaying action perpetuates the problems we are fighting to destroy.

Because things are moving fast and changing constantly, it can feel chaotic.

Because things are moving fast and changing constantly, it can feel chaotic.

It feels chaotic because often it is chaotic.

We have our flaws. But, this only gives scope for+POSITIVE CHANGE

WE WERE PREDOMINANTLY INSPIRED BY HUBSPOT

who in turn credit the following legends:-

• The Netflix Culture Deck (McCord & Hastings)

• “Drive” (Daniel Pink)

• The Valve Employee Handbook

• “Rework” (Fried and Hansson)

• Google’s People Ops Team ...and countless others on the web

THANK YOU Congrats for making it to slide 112!

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